A Spell for the Final Girl

In case you missed it back in October, I contributed a piece to Luna Luna's Halloween issue, and it stirs everything from the Blumhouse Halloween to Claire C. Holland's I Am Not Your Final Girl (an excellent collection of horror-inspired poetry if ever there was one) to our current political climate into a witchy brew. Please check it out.

Ultimate Fantasy: Magic, Murder & Performing Femininity in The Love Witch

I wrote about one of my favorite recent films, Anna Biller's The Love Witch (2016), over on Death & the Maiden. Please check it out by clicking on Samantha Robinson's bewitching visage in the above photo.

Get Ready for NIGHT OF THE WITCHES

Spring is in full swing, and for the spooky among us, that means that we're HALFWAY TO HALLOWEEN! That's right - this coming Sunday, April 30 is Hexennacht, aka Hex Night, aka Walpurgis Night, when witches roam the earth and the veil is thinned (at least, as thin as it's going to get outside of October). If you're in the Los Angeles area and your coven has the night off, head to the Phantom Carriage Brewery in Carson for Night of the Witches, a celebration featuring food and drink specials, a Q&A with a working mortician, an illustrated talk on the history of the holiday from Sarah Chavez and a screening of Anna Biller's florid feminist fever dream The Love Witch, one of my personal favorite films of 2016. 

For those of you who can't make it out, The Spooky Vegan has compiled an excellent list of 20 Witch Films to Watch on Walpurgisnacht. I was so excited to read this list comprised of some of my favorite movies that I felt compelled to offer up some additional suggestions of my own. Truly, you can never have enough cinematic spellcasters in your life. So from the goofy to the gruesome, here are 20 more titles to add to your witchlist:

TONIGHT: Rosemary's Baby at the Cemetery

If you haven't been to one of Cinespia's famous cemetery screenings yet, I demand you go tonight. Why? Well, for two reasons, really: First and foremost, they're showing Rosemary's Baby, Roman Polanski's 1968 masterpiece of witchcraft, pregnancy and paranoia starring Mia Farrow and her notoriously short hair. In addition, this will be the last cemetery screening of the season, which means you'll have to wait until next summer if you don't get your fix now. As always, don't forget the booze and the picnic dinner!

More info, from the Cinespia website:

directed by Roman Polanski (1968 136 mins)

gates 6:30 pm movie 8:00 pm NEW TIME!!
no reservation necessary
$10 donation tickets available at gate
as a courtesy to other moviegoers: NO TALL CHAIRS!!

Terrifying, hallucinatory and brimming with dark humor, Rosemary's is nothing short of a masterpiece of suspense. Farrow is an unsuspecting wife who believes her husband has become involved with a modern day witches coven. Is she being paranoid, or do they have diabolical plans for her baby? A brilliant performance by Mia Farrow made her a superstar overnight, John Cassavettes is phenomenal as her suspicious husband, and the incomparable Ruth Gordon (Harold & Maude) is hilarious as the next door neighbor. Join us under the stars for the last screening of the season!!

dj gas lamp killer spins before and after the screening

Hollywood Forever Cemetery is at 6000 Santa Monica Blvd., near the intersection of Santa Monica and Gower.

Magnets de los Muertos

One of my nearest and dearest friends makes magnets for a living; sometimes, she even makes magnets for fun. One day, she presented myself and my better half with - in my opinion - one of the coolest things I'd ever seen:

Zombie magnetic poetry.

You know those magnetic poetry kits you can buy and stick to your fridge so when your friends come over they can make obscene haiku with them? (What? That's what they're for, right?) Yeah, that's what she had made, but with words like horde, plague, damned, braiiiiins, feed, etc. Sounds like it's right up your gleefully macabre alley, doesn't it? Well, prepare to take your magnetic poetry writing skills beyond obscenity and into the realm of the spooky, ghoulish and grotesque, because Magnets de los Muertos has officially launched, and if zombies aren't your thing, you have tons of other options, including:

• Alien
• Axe Murderess
• Haunted House
• Killer Clown
• Pirate
• Robot
• Vampire
• Witch

I have them all, and they're all amazing. Perfect as little gifts, perfect for Halloween, perfect for any fridge or filing cabinet! Order a set today!

(By the way, we'll be at the first annual Vampire Con in Hollywood this Sunday, so stop by and check 'em out if you're planning to attend. More details on the Vamp Con to follow...)